Splashmoun10's NYE Trip Report Extravaganza (12/29/08)---(1/1/09)

[SplashMoun10]

Finally I have returned again with another photo/trip report. Before this trip, two other possibilities of going down to Disneyland fell through, regardless of their absolute certainty


Seeing that I had wanted to go to the parks on Halloween day (I have never seen the Halloween decorations yet) and that wouldn't work, I felt a need to go on New Years. I was able to tag along with my cousins and stay with them, for my first time at a Disneyland hotel, at the Paradise Pier Hotel. It was definitely a large step up from my previous hotel and the view was spectacular. Not to mention that when the thick fog drew in around 7pm each night, everything beyond the window had this ethereal feeling to it.


Day 1 (Dec. 29th)

On our first day of traveling and DCA @ night, we ate at the wharf area and hit a couple of paradise pier attractions. I had my camera ready in hand so that I could try the new features on my camera which I had never known about (...ignorant me...). I even got to watch the Electrical Parade, something I had not done ever since it left Disneyland. The parade filled me with nostalgia, especially as I became more relaxed as the father of another family that came with us danced around to the music with his kids. Having them tag along made the trip for me. Every time he entered the parks, he transformed into a child, smiling and skipping with his wife down Main Street. Hearing their family's thoughts about the parks also was a experience I will always remember.

































































































































































































































End of Day 1...To be continued!

[aaronpaulcustoms]

WOW! Great shots! I cant wait for the next part. In fact, im driving to your house now so i can skip the downtime and just admire all the photos.



ok...out the door

[17goingon3]

Omg... those pictures are all beautiful!! I'm so jealous of the view you had too. Thanks for sharing

[IzzyInWonderland]

Fantastic photos!! Some of them had me absolutely mesmerized. It's crazy that you can see hills in the background, that sure is a neat perspective but detracts somewhat from the overall atmosphere.

[SplashMoun10]

Day 2 (Dec. 30th)

On the second day, my Uncle, cousin Calvin, and I all woke up around 6am to get into Disneyland by 7; we had the early morning thing that the Disneyland hotels offer. I had been very adamant about not wanting to go early again, because everything is very rushed and too many things can gone too quickly. I would rather enter the parks a little later and relax as the sun sets and the nightlife magic springs forth. Nevertheless, I went early. We got the major attraction done before they became too long (i.e. HMH, Space, Splash, POTC). At 9 we ate breakfast (ok, maybe I didn't) at the Riverbelle Terrace. At 2pm, we all had a good meal at the Coke Corner while waiting for the people who stayed back at the hotel to come into the parks to meet us. We then got a locker, I put my camcorder away, and my other cousin handed me my camera which she brought from the hotel . For a quick snack around 4pm, we all had Bengal Barbeque skewers, something I had never tried before. Finally for dinner, most of our party ate at the Plaza restaurant on Main Street. Good meals all day!


















































My 2nd favorite picture. Go to flickr.com/brianrechenmacher to download it in full quality.




































My 3rd favorite pic from the trip. Once again, go to flickr.com/brianrechenmacher to get see all my photos posted here, plus some.




































































































Here we go...my #1 favorite photo from my NYE trip!!! Download here: December29th_286 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!














End of Day 2...To be continued!

[SplashMoun10]

Day 3(Dec. 31th)

On the third day, NYE, we were afraid that if we did not get into the parks early, we wouldn't get in at all. Half of us ready-folk entered the gates at 10am, while the others came at 12:30. Other then to say that it was packed, hectic, and cold, I will just get onto the 4th day b/c many people have already covered NYE. Also, I will be posting another 40 minutes trip report/montage video of my entire vacation !!!


This is what the fog looked like on NYE morning.








Me outside the lockers on Main Street.










Me on IASMW Holiday


New boats.


Me again.

I am very sad to say that I did not stay until closing or even midnight on New Year's Eve as I had down twice before; I believe I have had 4 vacations now down to the DLR around NYE. The story goes as follows: While waiting in the handicapped line for Space Mountain, my neck began to tense up and hurt a little. Then my face felt really hot, although the weather was so deftly cold. What topped everything off was riding on the attraction. I felt very nauseous and sick (I was fine the next day). After all this, four of us had to jump to the Rancho del Zocalo thru the thick crowds, pushing the wheelchair. As I we arrive and I stopped pushing, I felt very miserable. I couldn't even have my favorite meal for dinner: The Red Chile (cheese) Enchilada Platter. We sat for about an hour, then agreed to head back to the hotel and get our deserved rest for 2 long days in Disneyland. Apart from me regretting my choice of leaving, I had a blast laying in the warm hotel room, watching the countdown on TV, and hearing the fireworks explode outside the window. In the thick fog, the colors resinated the sky and looked absolutely beautiful.

End of Day 3...To be continued!

[WheresMickey]

Awsome pictures! Can't wait to see more!

[MissPlaced]

Beautiful pictures! Thank you so much for sharing!

[Armadillo4]

Splashmoun10, I always look forward to your trip reports because of your beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing all of these with us.

I can see why you like your favorite photo of this trip. That's a really, really cool shot from riding HMH!!! I also love your Electrical Parade photos. Some of those character closeups are so very sharp. Well done!

[Micoofy Duck]

Extremely detailed! The best kind of trip reports.

Sometimes I wonder though... which NYE's will we remember the most. The "bad" ones or the "good" ones.

[royaldisneyfan]

Fantasmic pics Splashmoun10! Keep them comin!

[SplashMoun10]

I will probably be posting my videos into a whole new thread once they are all uploaded to youtube...but for the time being, here is my first of 10 all new videos from my trip. YouTube - Sleeping Beauty's Castle Walk-Thru

[DisneyGal]

Great report. I like the close-up detail photos. Looks like it was a lot of fun.

[SplashMoun10]

Day 4(Jan. 1st)

On the fourth day, I deserved my REST! I woke up at around 11:40am and got into the parks at around 2pm. We stopped by Wetzel's Pretzels for a quick bite, then headed into the less crowded park. I can not remember absolutely clearly right now, but it was either NYE or NY's day that we spent about 3 hours in Toon Town until the sun set. This day was the day it felt most cold. Let's just say it was NY's day. Well, we basically meandered around, hitting rides here and there, looking in some shops, HAVING A GOOD TIME. I remember that for dinner, we ate Pizza at that place in Toon Town...which was not that good. . We then headed off to DCA and went on Monster's Inc. and Paradise Pier rides. Trying to beat the Electrical Parade, my 2 cousins and I ran off to The Blue Sky Cellar and saw the exciting new things coming to DCA. After that, half of our party got tired and headed back to the Hotel (I think it was 10 o'clock). The remaining 8 of us went on Indy twice, said good-bye to the other family of 4, and then had the most fun night by far. We drank our hot chocolates in the 25 minutes line for Nemo, then rode on the Mark VII (!) Red Monorail to Downtown Disney. Words can not describe how fun it was; not to mention how good I felt inside (ahhhhhh...). Before we “hit the hay,” we ordered some room service Pizza which was good, but more like Pizza Soup if you know what I mean.


The day we left, we stop by our Uncles house for 2 hours in Garden Grove and simply talked. Fantastic it was. We all waved goodbye as we passed Disneyland on the freeway. Before I forget, I would like to mention that I ate, for my first time, at Goofy's Kitchen which was tasty and an enjoyable time.




All in all, the trip brought forth to me new experiences and a heck-of-a-lot of fun stuff to talk about with friends and family.

The End

[LovelyLocks]

Okay seriously, each and every one of your pictures is FLAWLESS.
What is your secret?

I especially like the one you got of the people on Splash Mountain, hahahaha.